BIB 218 The Bible and the Tragic Vision Portfolio

1. BIB 218 The Bible and the Tragic Vision Portfolio Dr Diana Edelman and year 2 students: Kate Cooper, James Gould, Ian Hook and Matt Jenkins

2. BIB218 • Core text module for semester 1, year 2 • Emphasis on a close reading of a selected book of the Hebrew Bible • Emphasis on students learning a range of biblical exegesis skills and including them in their critical essays

3. Module History • Taught by 3 different members of staff, depending on the overall teaching loads in a given year • Each staff member has been free to redesign the module to suit his or her strengths and specific set of outcomes within the generally agreed outcomes, setting assessed work and assignments

4. Considerations • The usefulness of breaking down exegesis into discrete steps and skills whose purpose would be clear • The limitations of the university word counts in Arts for a 20-credit module and the problems we have encountered with getting students to do good quality non-assessed work • The desire to reserve class time for modelling good close reading skills

5. Solution • Development of a portfolio as part of the final assessment, which included 6 exercises that were handed in during class in weeks 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9. It was worth 50% of the final mark. After receiving written group feedback if the work was submitted on time, students chose four of the exercises and revised them for final assessment. The remaining two exercises had to be included in the submitted portfolio to demonstrate that they had been completed.

6. Modifications • The introduction of a test in week 2 over the contents and details of 1 Samuel to ensure the students knew the story well enough that we could examine and discuss selected motifs and passages from week to week without prior rereading outside of class since most weeks students were busy doing exercises. The test was worth 10% of the final mark. • The final exegetical essay was reduced to 2,500-3,000 words from 5,000 words and revalued at 40% instead of 65%. The word study (35%) was made a exercise.

7. Portfolio contents • Exercise in genre • Exercise in text criticism • Exercise on translation • Exercise on point of view • Exercise in ideological criticism • Exercise in reader response • In reserve: exercise in historical criticism

8. Objectives • Have students discover the importance of selected skills and approaches by applying them in a smaller case study • Have students take the initiative to find suitable examples or case studies in some in exercises ad to become aware of key passages and the range of interpretations in other cases • Have students reflect over what they learned from each exercise

9. My Reflections • Limitations: the decision to give group feedback on each exercise was necessitated by time demands; the students wanted individual feedback. • The marking of 4 exercises submitted by 34 students (136 exercises of 4-10 pages each in total, with detailed feedback) in the final portfolios, in addition to 34 essays of 2,500-3,000 words, was too much work for one module. • The test cores were abysmally low with a few exceptions, but this seemed to be a wake-up call for some, who then put in more effort to make up that mark.

10. The reflections showed that most grasped the point of the exercise; some unexpected additional learning/connections were prompted by some as well. • The students did not get the opportunity to discuss their work when it was fresh in their minds, which would have been an ideal time for them to learn from each other and deepen their understanding and contextualization.

11. Future Changes • The addition of a one-hour seminar weekly to discuss the exercises • The reduction of the number of exercises I mark in the final portfolios from 4 to 3 • The assignment of an exercise dealing with historical criticism in place of the class debate on this topic, which was not successful • A reassessment of the skills included in the exercises in light of changes being made at level 1 to embed certain exegetical skills in core modules there

12. Exercise on Genre • Two related questions have been asked by biblical scholars: 1) Is the story of King Saul as given in 1Samuel a tragedy? and 2) Is King Saul a tragic figure? The first is a question of genre: did the biblical writers recognize a formal category of literature called by the Greeks ‘tragedy’, with expected inclusive elements? • 1) Give two definitions of the term ‘genre’ NOT taken from a dictionary, and footnote your sources. • 2) Read pp. 9-127 in Eissfeldt’s Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. Make a list of the genres that have been identified to have existed in ancient Judahite and Judean literary circles. You can work in pairs or groups to generate this list but you will learn more if you do the reading individually. If you work with others, be sure you understand what each genre is and read an example of it. • 3) Indicate which genres from step 2 have been included in 1Samuel 1-2 Samuel 1, listing them and giving all examples of their occurrence in these 32 chapters of text. You may want to use Accordance to help you with this, or an English Concordance. You can work in groups to accomplish this step. • 4) List the elements of classical Greek tragedy outlined by Aristotle. Then indicate which ones are used in 1 Samuel 1-2 Samuel 1, citing specific vv, and which are absent. • 5) Answer the first question at the beginning of the exercise, providing evidence to support your answer. • 6) What is the likely genre of 1 Samuel, and why? Is this a modern classification or an ancient one? • 7) Reflect in writing over what you have learned from this exercise.

13. Exercise in Text Criticism • Find an example of a variant reading between the Masoretic text and another manuscript tradition (the Septuagint, Dead Sea Scrolls, Syriac, Targums etc) in one of the chapters of 1 Samuel that has a significant impact on the meaning of the sentence and the larger context of the narrative. You can do this in one of two ways: 1) use a commentary like Mc Carter or Klein that includes a section for each chapter on textual notes or, 2) if you are comfortable working with the Hebrew text, use the critical apparatus at the bottom of the page of a BHS. A. Describe the variants so that someone who does not read the ancient languages can understand what the difference is. • B. Discuss the logic each individual reading has within the larger narrative context. This can be done under the headings, Reading A and Reading B or the MT and whatever other manuscript you use (i.e. 4QSam ; LXX,; Targum). • C. State the decision made by P.K. McCarter (Anchor Bible commentary on 1 Samuel) and R. Klein (Word Biblical Commentary on 1 Samuel) over how to reconstruct the text , including their explicit reasoning. If no reason is given or no comment is made, note that explicitly. Evaluate the pros and cons of each position in light of the principles of textual criticism given on the hand-out from class. • D. Reflect over the impact that a decision to choose one over the other will have on the final reading and understanding of the text. • E. Using the principles of textual criticism, choose one reading over the other as the more ‘original’ and explain how the other might have arisen. • F. Reflect over what you have learned from this exercise.

14. Exercise on Translation • In 1 Sam 13:14, the piel perfect verb biqqesh, ‘he has sought out’, is universally rendered as a completed action, in the past tense in English translations, as is the dependent ensuing verb form, waysawwehu, ‘he has appointed’ (waw-consecutive + 3 m.s. imperfect). However, within the prophetic books, it has been noticed that prophets sometimes use the perfect tense to talk about future, uncompleted actions. This specialized use is sometimes called ‘the prophetic perfect’ or sometimes the ‘perfect of confidence’: it is used to predict something that the prophet is so confident will happen in the future that he considers it as good as accomplished. The closest equivalent tense in English would be the future perfect: ‘he will have sought out’ and ‘he will have appointed’, but many do not use this tense very often and find it a bit unfamiliar. Another option would be simply to translate it in the future: ‘he will seek out’ and ‘he will appoint’. • 1) Read 1 Samuel 13 - 1 Samuel 15 • 2) Describe how these three chapters are to be related and understood if the traditional past tense renderings of the two verbs is adopted. Pay careful attention to whether this is a warning from Samuel or a prophecy from God and what the possible meaning of ‘kingdom’ might be: ‘Royal domain’? ‘Dynasty? • 3) Describe how these three chapters are to be related and understood if the verbs are understood as prophetic perfects and translated as future perfects in English. • 4) Reflect in writing over the impact this translational decision has on a modern reader’s interpretation of the larger narrative about Saul when relying on an English version or rendition of 1 Samuel. • 5) Reflect in writing over what you have learned from this exercise.

15. Exercise on Point of View • Retell the story from the point of view of Michal, in first person, drawing on details in 1 Sam. 14:49; 1 Sam. 18:12-30; 1 Samuel 19; 1 Sam. 25:39-44. To do this, you need to enter the story world and assume what has been narrated, what is said by various characters and what takes place is all reliable information. Try to imagine what it would have been like for a princess to live in the court of Saul; where she would have lived, how much contact she would have had with the outside world, how she would have learned about what was happening in the palace and outside of it, what events she would have been allowed to attend in person, and what her future prospects were once she became of marriageable age. How did marriage and divorce work back then and how were husbands chosen for princesses? What would have been a typical bride price? Was Michal’s bride price typical or atypical? Who broke the engagement between Merab and David and why? Pay particular attention to the role of political/diplomatic marriages. Include in your retelling possible motivations for events and feelings experienced, even when these are not explicitly give; you will be filling narrative gaps by drawing on circumstantial clues within story details. • After this, read 2 Sam. 3:1-21; 2 Samuel 6; 2 Sam 21:1-9. Reflect in writing over how you might readjust your initial retelling in light of these further developments. If you would not, explain why not. • Reflect in writing over what have you learned from this exercise about 1) point of view; 2) narrative boundaries?

16. Exercise in Ideological Criticism • Read 1 Chronicles 1-10 • 1) Describe how the Chronicler’s version of Israel’s past differs from that presented in Genesis-2 Samuel 1 • 2) Reflect in writing over why the Chronicler has chosen to give his version of Israel’s past; why is he not interested in many of the more traditional events we find in Genesis-2 Samuel? What can we infer from his vision of Israel’s origins about what might have been sensitive/disputed issues within his community when he lived that would have prompted him to create his alterative ‘history’? If you are really stuck here, you might want to read some of the general background sections in commentaries on Chronicles or use the ATLA database to find some articles that talk about the Chronicler’s ideology. or which focus on 1 Chronicles 1-9. • 3) Reflect in writing over why the Chronicler might have omitted most of the narrative about Saul and David found in 1 Samuel 9-30, but why he included Saul’s final battle and defeat, but altered some of the story (vv.7, 10, 12 explicitly). • 4) Reflect over what you have learned from this exercise about how a writer’s ideology influences his creation of literature aimed at persuading his readers to adopt his view over against another that is implied to be in competition.

17. Exercise in Reader Response • 1) Identify a narrative gap in the text. • 2) Report on how three scholars have filled the gap, including any reasons they give for their ‘filling’. Use the more literary readings and commentaries: Gunn, Polzin, Edelman, Eslinger, Fokkelman, Jobling. or an article found using the ATLA database and footnotes as appropriate. Present the scholars in chronological order; give the one published the earliest first, and then the next earliest and finally, the latest. This way you can see who might have borrowed ideas from whom. After presenting the views, evaluate or critique them. You will not likely agree with all three, so give reasons why some are weaker than other and why some are stronger than others. • 3) Tell how you would fill it, and why. • 4) Reflect in writing over what you have learned from this exercise about the role of the author and the role of the reader in generating meaning.

18. Exercise in Historical Criticism • Read 1 Samuel 15 and 2 Samuel 21:18-22. • 1) Describe the competing versions as to who killed Goliath the Gittite. • 2) Reflect in writing over how this ‘contradiction’ might have come about and who is likely to have slain Goliath, and why, assuming for this exercise that such an event actually happened. If you seek help in secondary literature, be sure to include footnotes. • 3) Reflect in writing over why these competing claims might have been included in the Books of Samuel, which are thought to have formed a single long narrative, although chapters 21-24 are often referred to as ’an appendix’. If you seek help in secondary literature, be sure to include footnotes. • 4) Reflect in writing over what you have learned from this exercise.